Tips for Using BC for Linux

X-window

Beyond Compare for Linux requires X-window.
If you attempt to run BC for Linux in a console or SSH terminal without an X-window client, it will not run (including scripts).

Improve Appearance for Versions Prior to 3.1.11

Beyond Compare for Linux 3.1.11 and newer include settings to control font sizes for good usability.
Prior versions used system settings for font sizes that could result in fonts that are too large on some distributions.
If you're running an older version, updating to BC 3.1.11 or newer should improve the appearance of BC.
To update, select Check for Updates from the Help menu or download the new version from our web site
and install it over the top of the old version.

Fix small fonts and buttons

BC for Linux uses font size and other settings as described in a system's qtrc file.
If BC displays with very small fonts, buttons, and other GUI elements, using the sample qtrc file included
with Beyond Compare might resolve the issue.
To use the optimized settings, copy the file /usr/lib/beyondcompare/qtrc to $HOME/.qt/

Alternate Methods of Registering

To register without running Beyond Compare, save the license key in a text file named BC3Key.txt or BC4Key.txt.

To register for one user using version 3.3.7 or newer, use the location:~username/.config/bcompare/BC3Key.txt
To register for one user with older versions of BC3, use the location:~username/.beyondcompare/BC3Key.txt
To register for all users in 32-bit versions of Beyond Compare, use the location:/etc/BC3Key.txt or /usr/lib/beyondcompare/BC3Key.txt
To register for all users in 64-bit versions of Beyond Compare, use the location:/etc/BC4Key.txt or /usr/lib64/beyondcompare/BC4Key.txt

Accessing a USB drive or Mounted device

Different Linux distributions can handle this differently.
Portable devices will often appear in the /media/ or /mount/ folders.
Browse to these locations using the Browse to Folder dialog in Beyond Compare.

Accessing Samba shares

Beyond Compare version 4

Type the URL of the share into a path edit using the form smb://server/share and press Enter.
Beyond Compare will prompt you for login information and load the share.

Beyond Compare version 3

The user must mount the location as a folder, then load the folder in Beyond Compare.
This mounting process is not done in Beyond Compare, and is specific to your Linux distribution.
Here are a few helpful links: